English Verbs List (100 common verbs, conjugations, and examples)

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

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

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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