This is a list of 100 common English verbs. It includes conjugations, as well as examples to help you see the verbs in context. You can practice by thinking of your own examples and writing them in the comments section.
The verb conjugations on this list are organized as follows:
present - past - past participle - present participle
For the present, I have included all forms. For example, "look/looks," meaning "I/You/We/They look" and "He/She/It looks."
Note: This list does not include modal verbs or modal phrases (can/could/may/will/be going to/would/would like/have to/ought to/should/must), but they are used in some of the examples.
Thank you for using this English learning resource. If you find it useful, please consider supporting English with Alex.
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Accept
accept/accepts - accepted - accepted - accepting
"We're not going to accept their offer."
Afford
afford/affords - afforded - afforded - affording
"I can't afford this. It's too expensive."
Answer
answer/answers - answered - answered - answering
"I answered him on Tuesday."
Appear
appear/appears - appeared - appeared - appearing
"Leonardo DiCaprio has appeared in a lot of movies."
Ask
ask/asks - asked - asked - asking
"May I ask you a question?"
Avoid
avoid/avoids - avoided - avoided - avoiding
"I've been avoiding salty foods lately."
Be
be (imperative)/am/is/are - was/were - been - being
"We were best friends in high school."
Become
become/becomes - became - become - becoming
"David became a lawyer."
Begin
begin/begins - began - begun - beginning
"It's beginning to rain."
Believe
believe/believes - believed - believed - believing
"He believes your explanation."
Break
break/breaks - broke - broken - breaking
"I broke my leg."
Build
build/builds - built - build - building
"This bridge was built in 2018."
Buy
buy/buys - bought - bought - buying
"Are you going to buy him anything for his birthday?"
Call
call/calls - called - called - calling
"I'll call you tomorrow."
Care
care/cares - cared - cared - caring
"I care about you. You're important to me."
Change
change/changes - changed - changed - changing
"He changes his mind all the time."
Check
check/checks - checked - checked - checking
"We have to check if the car is in good condition."
Choose
choose/chooses - chose - chosen - choosing
"Which one are you going to choose?"
Clean
clean/cleans - cleaned - cleaned - cleaning
"Are you cleaning your room?"
Come
come/comes - came - come - coming
"Who's coming to the party?"
Continue
continue/continues - continued - continued - continuing
"Sorry for the interruption. Please continue your presentation."
Deal
deal/deals - dealt - dealt - dealing
"We've been dealing with a lot of problems this month."
Deliver
deliver/delivers - delivered - delivered - delivering
"When did they deliver the package?"
Depend
depend/depends - depended - depended - depending
"It depends on the situation."
Do
do/does - did - done - doing
"What are you doing this weekend?"
Drink
drink/drinks - drank - drunk - drinking
"Sorry, but I don't drink alcohol."
Drive
drive/drives - drove - driven - driving
"We're going to drive there."
Eat
eat/eats - ate - eaten - eating
"What do you usually eat for breakfast?"
Encourage
encourage/encourages - encouraged - encouraged - encouraging
"My mom always encouraged me to do my best."
Enjoy
enjoy/enjoys - enjoyed - enjoyed - enjoying
"Are you enjoying the movie?"
Expect
expect/expects - expected - expected - expecting
"I didn't expect to see you here today."
Explain
explain/explains - explained - explained - explaining
"She never explains the reasons for her actions."
Fall
fall/falls - fell - fallen - falling
"Be careful. Don't fall."
Feel
feel/feels - felt - felt - feeling
"I haven't felt this good in a long time."
Find
find/finds - found - found - finding
"My phone! Where did you find it?"
Finish
finish/finishes - finished - finished - finishing
"Have you finished the assignment?"
Fix
fix/fixes - fixed - fixed - fixing
"Have they fixed the printer yet?"
Follow
follow/follows - followed - followed - following
"He doesn't follow directions well."
Forget
forget/forgets - forgot - forgotten - forgetting
"I forgot my keys. I'll be right back."
get/gets - got - got (UK)/gotten (US) - getting
"What score did you get on the test?"
Give
give/gives - gave - given - giving
"Who gave you that?"
Go
go/goes - went - gone - going
"Where are you going?"
Happen
happen/happens - happened - happened - happening
"Hello? What's happening?"
Have
have/has - had - had - having
"They're having a good time."
Hear
hear/hears - heard - heard - hearing
"Can you hear me?"
Help
help/helps - helped - helped - helping
"I can help you."
Hold
hold/holds - held - held - holding
"Could you hold this for a minute? Thanks."
Imagine
imagine/imagines - imagined - imagined - imagining
"I never imagined that the concert would be this expensive."
Improve
improve/improves - improved - improved - improving
"She's improving herself little by little."
Increase
increase/increases - increased - increased - increasing
"They've increased security at the airport."
Invite
invite/invites - invited - invited - inviting
"Did you invite Ian to the meeting?"
Join
join/joins - joined - joined - joining
"They joined a gym together."
Keep
keep/keeps - kept - kept - keeping
"This is for you. You can keep it."
Know
know/knows - knew - known - knowing (rare)
"We've known each other for 15 years."
Laugh
laugh/laughs - laughed - laughed - laughing
"Why are you laughing? It's not funny."
Let
let/lets - let - let - letting
"My mom didn't let me go to the concert."
Learn
learn/learns - learned - learned - learning
"She's learning how to drive."
Leave
leave/leaves - left - left - leaving
"What time should we leave?"
Like
like/likes - liked - liked - liking (considered ungrammatical by some but is used)
"I don't like his attitude."
Listen
listen/listens - listened - listened - listening
"What are you listening to?"
Live
live/lives - lived - lived - living
"Where do you live?"
Look
look/looks - looked - looked - looking
"Look at this!"
Lose
lose/loses - lost - lost - losing
"I'm losing my patience."
Love
love/loves - loved - loved - loving (considered ungrammatical by some but is used)
"I've loved all of her films."
Make
make/makes - made - made - making
"Sorry, I'm busy. I'm making dinner."
Meet
meet/meets - met - met - meeting
"Hey, Freddie. Have you met Jill?"
Move
move/moves - moved - moved - moving
"Could you move that chair, please?"
Need
need/needs - needed - needed - needing
"Do you need any help?"
Offer
offer/offers - offered - offered - offering
"They've offered me a promotion."
Open
open/opens - opened - opened - opening
"Who opened the door?"
Order
order/orders - ordered - ordered - ordering
"Could we just order something for dinner tonight? I don't want to cook."
Pay
pay/pays - paid - paid - paying
"Who's going to pay for this?"
prefer/prefers - preferred - preferred - preferring (rare)
"I prefer tea to coffee."
Prepare
prepare/prepares - prepared - prepared - preparing
"I'm preparing for a job interview."
Put
put/puts - put - put - putting
"Why did you put your bag on the sofa?"
Read
read/reads - read - read - reading
"What are you reading?"
Receive
receive/receives - received - received - receiving
"I haven't received any messages from them today."
Remember
remember/remembers - remembered - remembered - remembering
"I don't remember his name. Do you?"
See
see/sees - saw - seen - seeing
"We haven't seen each other in five years."
Send
send/sends - sent - sent - sending
"Could you send it to me?"
Show
show/shows - showed - shown - showing
"Have you shown this to anybody else?"
Sit
sit/sits - sat - sat - sitting
"Don't sit there. The chair is wet."
Sound
sound/sounds - sounded - sounded - sounding
"You sound sick. Are you okay?"
Speak
speak/speaks - spoke - spoken - speaking
"I was so nervous that I couldn't speak."
Start
start/starts - started - started - starting
"The race is starting in 15 minutes."
Stop
stop/stops - stopped - stopped - stopping
"We stopped at the gas station."
Study
study/studies - studied - studied - studying
"Let's study together at the library?"
Take
take/takes - took - taken - taking
"The meeting took two hours."
Talk
talk/talks - talked - talked - talking
"Who(m) are you talking to?"
Tell
tell/tells - told - told - telling
"What did she tell you?"
Text
text/texts - texted - texted - texting
"I'll text you later."
Think
think/thinks - thought - thought - thinking
"What are you thinking about?"
Try
try/tries - tried - tried - trying
"I've been trying to call them for thirty minutes."
Understand
understand/understands - understood - understood - understanding
"I don't understand the lyrics in this song."
Use
use/uses - used - used - using
"I've been using the same laptop for over seven years."
Wait
wait/waits - waited - waited - waiting
"How long should we wait here?"
Want
want/wants - wanted - wanted - wanting
"I want something else."
Walk
walk/walks - walked - walked - walking
"We'll be a little late. We're walking to the train station right now."
Watch
watch/watches - watched - watched - watching
"We watched a movie last night."
Write
write/writes - wrote - written - writing
"Write your name at the top of the page."
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