Verbs in the Present and Past Tenses Reviewer

A tense tells in what time the action of a verb takes place: the present, the past, or the future.

 The Present Tense

The base form of a verb is called the infinitive. Infinitives are composed of the particle word to and
the verb: to sing, to dance, to develop, and so on. In the conjugation of a verb in the present tense, the
particle word to is omitted. The ending -s is added to the verb in the third-person singular.

Pronoun	to sleep	to hurry	to belong
I	sleep	hurry	belong
you	sleep	hurry	belong
he / she / it	sleeps	hurries	belongs
we	sleep	hurry	belong
they	sleep	hurry	belong

Verbs that end in -y change to -ie- in the third-person singular conjugation and then add the ending -s.
However, if the final -y of a verb is preceded by a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), the -y does not change to -ie-.

Pronoun	to marry	to try	to fly	to say
I	marry	try	fly	say
you	marry	try	fly	say
he / she / it	marries	tries	flies	says
we	marry	try	fly	say
they	marry	try	fly	say

For verbs that end in a sound such as -s, -z, -ch, -tch, or -sh, add the ending -es instead of -s in the
third-person singular conjugation of the present tense.

Pronoun	to miss	to catch	to rush
I	miss	catch	rush
you	miss	catch	rush
he / she / it	misses	catches	rushes
we	miss	catch	rush
they	miss	catch	rush

The ending -es is also used as the third-person singular present tense ending for verbs that end in
vowels. For example:

I do / he does
I go / he goes

If a verb already ends in -e, just add -s:

I save / he saves
I believe / he believes

If a noun is used in place of a third-person pronoun, a plural noun will require no ending on the
verb, and a singular noun will require the ending -s:

the men sing / the man sings

boys run / a boy runs

This conjugational usage with nouns follows the pattern of the plural and singular third-person
plural and singular pronouns:

they sing / he, she, it sings they run / he, she, it runs

Answers:

1. speak 2. listen 3. forgets 4. worries 5. cries 6. answer 7. surprise 8. buries 9. spend 10. becomes 11. sign, leave 12. likes, lends 13. arranges, pays 14. suggest, allow 15. catches, kisses

Source: ENGLISH VERB DRILLS/Ed Swick